Sameer Y.

Ozan D. This is one of the best description of the problem in the thread. "They think they're being thorough" is exactly it. Nobody drops the buyer on purpose. Your tagging method is smart, and it's more or less what I'm trying to automate. The one thing I'd add is that the buyer's answers shrinking is the late signal. On the arcs I look at, the buyer's attention usually drops 30 to 60 seconds before their answers get short. They've already left, they're just still being polite. So the timestamp you're tagging is real, but the moment to coach is slightly earlier. Curious how you do the tagging today. Are you listening to full recordings, or is there a faster way you've found?

Ayse G. That's the version of role play I'd want to be on the receiving end of. Going to DM you, I think there's something worth trying with the way you run these.

Ha, I'll take the "that's right." 😀 Agreed on role play. The one thing I'd add is that role play has the same blind spot as the real call: the rep walks out thinking it went fine because their partner was polite. If you can see where the "buyer" actually drifted during the practice run, the rep gets to fix the pause before it costs a real deal. That's the bit I've been experimenting with. Out of curiosity, do you run role plays with your teams regularly, or is it more of an onboarding thing?

Ayse G. No argument from me, Voss should be required reading for anyone who runs a discovery call. The "that's not fair" example is a good one. The instinct to split the difference feels generous and just teaches the buyer that pushing works. I'd only add that reading Voss and doing Voss are two different things. Most reps I've watched know the playbook and still fill the silence at minute 10. The book tells you what to do, the replay shows you whether you actually did it. Both, not either. Thanks for this. Probably a useful thread I've started here. 🙂

Ayse G. The "that's right" vs "you're right" distinction is spot on, and it maps to something I see on the arcs. "You're right" is the polite exit. The buyer's words stay agreeable but their attention has already left. The rep hears agreement and speeds up, which makes it worse. Your point about silence is the other one that shows up. The reps who pause after a hard question get the buyer talking, and that's where the line climbs. The ones who fill the silence with "we see this all the time" get a flat line and a courteous ending. One thing I'm wondering Ayse G.: do you find reps can hear the difference between "that's right" and "you're right" in the moment, or does it only click when they listen back to the call?

Rohit G. That's a great question, and the second half is the part most reps skip. "What happens if you leave it as is" forces the buyer to say out loud whether it's a priority or just a complaint. It also lines up with what I see on the arcs. When a rep uncovers a pain and jumps straight to the demo, the buyer stays polite but the engagement flattens. When the rep makes them explain why it matters now, the buyer does the talking and the line goes up. The buyer is convincing themselves, which is better than the rep doing it. Curious how you coach reps to handle the answer "nothing happens, we'd just keep working around it." That's the one I see reps freeze on.

Fair point, the minute is a rough marker. I like your framing better: the drop is what a missed pain point looks like from the buyer's side. The rep thinks discovery is done, the buyer checks out because nothing after that is about them. Would love your outside perspective. Sending you a DM.

Good question Ben S.. First, quick note on the screenshots: those two are long working sessions, not discovery calls. I posted them to show what a drop and recovery look like, not as proof of the minute-12 thing. On discovery calls, the questions in the first 10 minutes are usually fine. Intros, current process, what's broken, who's involved. The drop comes when the rep runs out of questions and starts explaining. The buyer stops being part of the conversation and becomes the audience. You can see the same thing in the first screenshot. The low point is the speaker repeating the same point without moving on. Once they moved on, it recovered in about a minute. What's the question your best rep asks at minute 10 that your newest rep never thinks of?